Fate of Reagan Legislative Agenda Said Uncertain

Washington--While agreeing that President Reagan's sweeping
re-election victory illustrated his broad popularity, Democrats and
Republicans disagreed last week on whether the landslide win over
Walter F. Mondale constitutes a mandate for the Administration's
programs and whether it will help push Mr. Reagan's legislative agenda
through the Congress.

The Democrats gained two seats in the Senate, which the gop now
controls, 53 to 47. The Republicans gained about 15 seats in the House.
But they had said they needed to pick up about 25 seats in order to
give the President a "working majority" there.

"I don't think people should expect too many [legislative]
victories" in the Congress for President Reagan, House Minority Leader
Robert H. Michel, Republican of Illinois, said Wednesday.

Outlook For Education

In post-election statements, the President and his top aides said
that cutting domestic spending would receive high priority. Their first
substantive budget meetings reportedly were to be held early this
week.

Nonetheless, one Republican Senate aide said, "Education isn't going
to lose a lot." Too many senators, the aide added, are publicly
committed to support for education and "will protect it from any major
reductions."

The resignation of Education Secretary Terrel H. Bell is not
considered likely to have a major impact on the Education Department's
budget, according to a highly placed official of the department. Most
agencies' budgets, he explained, "are going to be clearly made in the
White House ... no matter who is sitting in the Secretary's chair."

Senator Paul Laxalt, Republican of Nevada and chairman of the
President's campaign committee, noted, "I think he's going to be very
determined to push that social agenda"--including sanctioned prayer in
public schools and tuition tax credits.

But the Republicans' failure to gain a conservative "ideological
mandate" in the House--as Representative Vin Weber, a conservative
Republican from Minnesota, put it--may prevent passage of such
measures, Congressional sources agreed.

Key Senate Races

In some races that attracted special attention from educators,
Representative Paul Simon, Democrat of Illinois, won election to the
Senate, defeating the three-term incumbent, Charles H. Percy. Three
Democrats who had championed education, Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Gov.
James B. Hunt of North Carolina, and William F. Winter of Mississippi
were defeated in their Senate races. (See Education Week, Oct. 31,
1984.)

Mr. Doggett was defeated re6soundingly by Representative Phil Gramm;
Governor Hunt was defeated by the incumbent, Jesse A. Helms; and Mr.
Winter, also by an incumbent, Thad Cochran.

Two-term Senator Walter D. Huddleston, Democrat of Kentucky, was
upset by A. Mitchell (Mitch) McConnell Jr., whose margin of victory was
less than a percentage point. Senator Huddleston, co-author of
legislation this year to pay for school asbestos-removal programs, has
requested a recount.

The ranking Democrat on the Senate Subcommittee on Education, Arts,
and Humanities, Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island, was re-elected
overwhelmingly over the Republican challenger, Barbara Leonard.

Representative Simon, who was chairman of the House Subcommittee on
Postsecondary Education and author of several major education bills,
reportedly will seek the Democratic seat on the Labor and Human
Resources Committee vacated by the retirement of Jennings Randolph of
West Virginia. By doing so, he would retain his legislative involvement
in education issues.

However, two other newly elected Democratic Senators are also said
to be interested in a seat on the committee. They are Gov. John D.
(Jay) Rockefeller 4th of West Virginia and Albert Gore Jr. of
Tennessee. Overall, Republican and Democratic aides agreed, the
election results will have little impact on the committee.

In the House, Representative Ike F. Andrews, Democrat of North
Carolina, was the only casualty on the 19-member House Subcommittee on
Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education. He was defeated by
William Cobey Jr.

Of the new House members, nine are from the South, according to a
list compiled by the National Conservative Political Action
Committee.

Three Republican challengers in North Carolina and three in Texas,
benefiting from wide Reagan margins in those states, ousted Democratic
incumbents. A fourth Republican in Texas, Larry Combest, captured an
open seat.

In Indiana, Representative Frank McCloskey, a Democrat, was not
helped by the $6 million recently authorized for a Center for
Educational Excellence at Indiana University in Bloomington.
Representative McCloskey, a key supporter of the federal funds, was
defeated by a Republican challenger, Rick McIntyre.

A Reagan Mandate?

Republicans last week cited President Reagan's wide margin of
victory as an endorsement of his policies.

But Democrats responded that since Republicans did not make major
gains in the Congress, voters affirmed only the President's personal
popularity, not his conservative agenda.

The President's chief of staff, James A. Baker, while claiming a
mandate from the voters, predicted, "It's going to be very difficult to
push many of the things the President wants to push through the
Congress."

The speaker of the House, Representative Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neill,
Democrat of Massachusetts, asserted that "I don't think there's any
mandate out there whatsoever" but said he would be fair to the
Administration's initiatives.

And Senator Gary Hart, Democrat of Colorado and a contender for the
Democratic Presidential nomination, claimed that the President's
failure to cite specific plans for his second term would hinder his
effectiveness in lobbying the legislators. "He cannot go to the
Congress with any blueprint for this nation's future," Senator Hart
said.

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